Many of the chemically familiar chromium compounds have been found to be ineffective for delivering chromium(III) ions orally to the body. Accordingly, efforts to treat mammals in need of the chromium(III) ion have involved the use of organic complexes of chromium which are somewhat ill-defined and rather unstable.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,410, Godfrey (1975) discloses addition of trace amounts of certain chromium salts to sugar to produce a fortified composition which is said to reduce the severity or incidence of atherosclerosis or adult-onset diabetes. Unrefined sugar contains appreciable quantities of chromium, but as the sugar is refined the chromium is removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,433, Abdel-Monem, et al. (1975) describes complexes formed between chromium and .alpha.-amino acids. The chromium in these complexes is said to be readily absorbed, distributed and utilized within the biochemical system of animals and humans. The rate of absorption and distribution is said to be substantially higher than that of chromium chloride.
Shwartz and Mertz, Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Vol. 85, p. 293 (1959) state that very stable chromium complexes, for example the bidentate chromium acetylacetonate and several ethylenediamine complexes, seem to be metabolically inert.
Mertz, Nutrition Reviews 33, No. 5, p. 130 (May 1975) states that "simple" chromium compounds, for example the chloro, aquo, or acetate coordinate chromium compounds or complexes, do not meet the criteria of absorption and bioavailability needed for use as cofactors for insulin.